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 After making a stellar debut in the same competition last year, CEZ Nymburk faces a do-or-die Eurocup home game in Group H as the regular season ends next week. The prize of advancing to the Last 16 of the Eurocup for a second straight season would be a major accomplishment for the pride of Czech basketball. Nymburk will look again to team leader Arthur Lee, who paced the team last season and continues as its second-best scorer and top assist man. Lee relied on his long experience in Europe - nine teams and seven countries in 10 seasons - to guide Nymburk to victory in its first must-win game, last week on the road at Buducnost of Montenegro. Now, he hopes that each positive experience will contribute to Nymburk facing down visiting Hemofarm on Tuesday. "It'll be a great challenge and a step for us pull off," Lee told Eruocupbasketball.com. "To advance two years in a row in the Eurocup, the only two years the club has been in it, would be wonderful. And it's a challenge we can meet if we come out confident and ready to play."
Arthur, Nymburk is again carrying Czech basketball flag in Europe. How exciting is it to be in that position again this year after such a successful ULEB Cup run last year?
"We're definitely excited, and no doubt we're happy now to be in this position. We started off 1-3 in our group and we didn't know what to expect going forward. But we knew that if we won in Montenegro this week, we'd still be alive, and after winning that in-or-out game, here we are. It feels great to have this opportunity to move on to the second round again."
What were the keys to that one do-or-die game you guys have overcome already, on the road against Buducnost in Montenegro last week?
"I think it was just an all-out collective effort for out team. It wasn't a pretty game. Buducnost is a team that scraps all game. It has aggressive young guys who run and press, foul, reach and do anything and everything to win. So it wasn't pretty. There were a lot of mistakes and turnovers. But at the end when it counted, the keys were defense and rebounds and smart plays down the stretch. To win on the road is always tough, so to do that and stay alive says a lot about our team. Maybe our guys will get confidence now going forward the rest of the season."
Nymburk drew some of the biggest home crowds of the ULEB Cup last season. How important will they be when facing Hemofarm for a chance at the Last 16 next week?
"Normally, it's huge. It's tremendous to have a great home base in a game like this. It's tradition where I'm from to look forward to games like these. I hope we have a big crowd and that they are loud. I want them to come, first, and be loud, second, so we have that sixth-man, intimidation factor. That gives the guys energy, especially our local Czech guys, who are not used to that. For them, playing in front of home folks is great, and for the team in general it's a boost. Last year, with more home games in the ULEB Cup, we built more momentum than this year, but hopefully we'll have a huge crowd again."
 You already faced Hemofarm earlier on this season, in Vrsac, Serbia, where Nymburk lost 82-74. How much of a reference factor can that game be for both teams?
"Hemofarm is definitely a quality team with good players at each position. I don't think we play particularly well out there in the first game, as a unit. We made mistakes could have avoided. There were ill-advised turnovers, we didn't move the ball well, things like that, but it also might have been a product of how well they played. It'll be a great challenge and a step for us pull off. To advance two years in a row in the Eurocup, the only two years the club has been in it, would be wonderful. And it's a challenge we can meet if we come out confident and ready to play."
At times your team plays with two point guard on the floor, teaming you with Justin Gray. What kind of advantage is that for you?
"We did that against Buducnost, in fact, to help with their pressure. Normally I bring up the ball most of the time, but in that case, we just let Justin bring it up. That's exactly what you need in a competition like this where all teams have two quality point guards playing every day. You have to have someone else who can bring the ball up, and Justin is a guy who can do that and score, so it's been wonderful."
How much help does last year's first ULEB Cup experience, in which you guys also made the Last 16, give this team?
"A lot, I hope. We had three key players leave, but most of the rest of those guys are back, so hopefully we can band together behind that experience. The guys who replaced them have good experience, too. Experience helps a lot, but what it boils down to is 40 minutes of playing until the best and toughest team wins. We have to play hard on our home floor and get this victory."
You have been a true basketball globetrotter since leaving Stanford University, with stops in Turkey, Croatia, Italy, Israel, France, Greece and now the Czech Republic. How has that experience been for you?
"It has been that, an experience, and a very interesting one, seeing different places, so many different customs and cultures, as well as basketball styles and philosophies. I can't believe it's my 10th season. It seems like I just finished college, and now I've had 10 seasons in Europe. Time flies. It's something like a blur until you sit back and look at each season individually and realize all that has happened. All in all, it's been a blessing. I met my wife here, in Croatia, and now we have a daughter. It's been a blessing, like I said. I expect I can look back later with fondness on what I have accomplished."
 With all those stops under you belt, what led you to choose to remain at Nymburk for a second season?
“We ended up winning the Czech championship last year, and Nymburk I found to be a very professional program for me, especially after coming from Greece, where things didn't go as well as I expected them to for me. Here, they understand all the little things you need to get along as a foreign player in a foreign country, like getting paid on time. When the chance to stay came, we were familiar with it, my wife and I. We like this town and we like Prague. We're still here. We'll see how it goes."
What would it mean for you, the club and its fans to see Nymburk into the next round again?
"From the team standpoint, and for me, it would be great to show everyone that no matter what, you continue fighting. Like I said, we started in a 1-3 hole, so if we can get to an even record and advance, it would be great, and tremendous for everyone in the future. The club obviously wants to move up and has sponsors to think about, so this would be a building block for the future. Our core fans are excited, elated, after coming out to support us all season. For everyone in this close-knit family here, it would be wonderful. But I would remind them we have to win first, and then we have to continue to take care of the business at hand in the second round. I hope we get that opportunity."
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Friday, January 09, 2009
Frank Lawlor, Eurocupbasketball.com
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